It’s been a bloomin’ long time coming, but Level-5’s Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is finally making its way to the Switch on 22nd May 2025 following multiple delays.
To really drive the message that this date is likely final, two new commercials have been released (thanks, Go Nintendo) that highlight some tasty gameplay before reconfirming the game’s upcoming launch. They’re not particularly lengthy, but we get a good glimpse at what you’ll be getting up to during the time with the game, including the various farming mechanics, mining, crafting, and, of course, a sprinkling of combat.
Another fan-favorite indie, Buckshot Roulette, is also making the jump to Xbox. Within a year of its release back in December 2023, the tabletop horror game was a hit, taking over four million of us through a fiendish – and terrifying – game of Russian roulette with a pump-action shotgun.
But those aren’t the only games jumping onto Microsoft’s subscription service. We’ve rounded up all the new indie games confirmed at last night’s show as coming to Xbox Game Pass later in 2025.
This is of course on top of Watch Dogs: Legion (Cloud, Console, and PC), which launches into Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard today, February 25.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Sorcerous cardgame Balatro and slot machine RPGLuck Be A Landlord have been reclassified as fit for people aged 12 years and over by the Pan European Games Information board, after they were initially slapped with an 18 rating for “glamorising… the simulation of gambling”.
PEGI have made the change following a successful appeal against the 18 rating by Balatro’s European publisher Sold Out and Luck Be A Landlord’s Switch publisher Fangamer. They’re also going to develop “a more granular set of classification criteria” for games that reference gambling, to distinguish jingling parodies of rentier capitalism from the one arm bandits found in actual casinos.
I like to think that, having been supplanted by autoshooters and twig-picking survival games as the Steam Next Fest genre du jour, 2D puzzle-platformers can circle back from ubiquity to becoming cool and clever again. In any event, I’ve definitely enjoyed As I Began To Dream, a charmingly hand-drawn side-scroller that delivers its puzzles with a tactile clickiness straight out of your childhood toolbox. The demo is out now.
Get The Band Back Together in Rockbeasts, a Management RPG Coming to Xbox
Elise Ashwood, PR Manager, Team17 Digital
Get ready to add Rockbeasts, the narrative band-management RPG, to your most anticipated albums of 2025. Welcome to a world that puts you in the shoes of a manager in the age of MTV, rock anthems, and bad haircuts.
Featuring the iconic Iggy Pop and with a story written by Jakub Szamałek (Senior writer of The Witcher 3, Principal Writer of Cyberpunk 2077 and the upcoming The Blood of Dawnwalker), prepare for a tragicomic tale of the highs and lows of an up-and-coming band in the 90s.
As the manager of “one of the most controversial bands” of the era, you’ll help a group of rising stars as they navigate the highs and lows of the music industry in pursuit of fame and fortune. Along the way, you’ll meet a colorful cast of anthropomorphic animals, some inspired by real world rock legends.
Pick the venue, prep the set and make sure it all goes according to plan. Pull it off and the band might just finally take those first steps to fame and glory. Sure, this one was in a grimy basement, but even the rock legends had to start somewhere, right?
The characters that bring this world to life all come with their own motivations, and personal demons. You have a choice – will you be the manager who helps those around you, or uses others as the stepping stone to success?
Bringing the Godfather of Punk himself, Iggy Pop, to your television screens once again, has drawn on decades of musical insider knowledge for his performance to give you an authentic window into the world of early ’90s rock mayhem.
His musical performances live in the annals of rock music history and now he’s jumping over to your Xbox. Iggy Pop plays a fictionalised version of himself, the aptly named “Iggy Pup” and lends his vocal talents to bringing the story’s narrator to life, as a radio host charting the rise of the band to fame. Relive the story first-hand as the notorious manager that leads the band to fame and fortune.
The branching narratives, twists and tales of the story will lead you down a path for you and your band to either rock, or ruin, and only by making the hardest choices can you help this band reach their true potential. Manage their practice sessions, sculpt their image, and do everything a good manager will do and maybe you’ll find a diamond in the rough with this misfit bunch of anthropomorphic animals. Or, simply use their hopes and dreams to line your own pockets, at the end of the day – the choices really are yours.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Rock & Roll. Wishlist Rockbeasts now on the Xbox Store today.
Pokémon Trading Card sets like Prismatic Evolutions are in high demand at the moment and it doesn’t look like things will be slowing down any time soon.
In response to the TCG’s latest spike in popularity, GameStop has announced it has discontinued pre-orders. This includes implementing purchase limits in-store on select SKUs. Here’s the official notice, along with the reasoning behind this decision:
Hey, everyone! At Annapurna Interactive, we’re fortunate to work with some of the world’s best development teams around the world, supporting them to help bring unique game experiences to PlayStation. Today, we premiere a new Annapurna Showcase, highlighting some of these teams, sharing exciting news and updates about previously announced games that are coming very soon.
Sayonara Wild Hearts
The critically-acclaimed rhythm game Sayonara Wild Hearts is coming to PlayStation 5 today. Experience a brand-new PS5 exclusive Remix Arcade game mode chasing high scores in endlessly replayable levels set to a selection of songs from the game’s iconic soundtrack.
Sayonara Wild Hearts also features upgraded 4K visuals, runs at up to 120 FPS, and supports haptic feedback on PS5. Those who own the game on PlayStation 4 can upgrade their copy to the PlayStation 5 version for free as long as both platforms are linked to the same account.
Lushfoil Photography Sim
Explore diverse landscapes, play with camera settings, and capture the perfect shot in Lushfoil Photography Sim.
Featuring breathtaking locations, from the picturesque Italian countryside to the saltwater beaches of West Australia, Lushfoil Photography Sim delivers the premier digital photography experience, ramping up your favorite in-game photo modes to 11.
We’re excited for PlayStation players to experience the delight of travel photography when the game launches April 15, 2025 on PlayStation 5.
To a T
Led by esteemed Katamari Damancy creator Keita Takahashi, to a T is a charming, colorful adventure game about a teen navigating life in a small town with their cute dog companion.
Play as a teenager (Teen), with a unique posture just trying to live a normal life in a small coastal town. Explore the town along with the help of Teen’s loyal dog and loving mother. While going to school and contending with bullies, Teen discovers a new ability granted to them by their extraordinary posture, as they start to uncover more about their mysterious lineage.
PlayStation players can be charmed and delighted on May 28 when To a T launches on PlayStation 5. The latest trailer for the game features an original track, “The Giraffe Song,” performed by Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe, Adventure Time).
Wheel World
Wheel World is a single-player bicycle racing adventure where you’re tasked with preventing the world from collapsing.
You are Kat, a young cyclist with one mission: save Wheel World from total collapse. Explore a stunning world filled with impressive vistas, hidden secrets, and races that will test your skills. Customize your bike with an endless array of parts, from sleek speedsters to off-road beasts—there’s no limit to how you can ride.
Customize your ride, explore, and compete in this cycling journey with original music from the electronic music label Italians Do It Better when it launches this summer on PlayStation 5.
That’s all for the Annapurna Interactive Showcase 2025. We hope you are just as excited about the upcoming releases as we are. We can’t wait to get these games in your hands but for now make sure to follow and wishlist the games on the PlayStation Store to be among the first to receive the latest updates. From all of us at Annapurna, as well as our developer partners – thank you so much for joining us.
Originally released as a PlayStation 2 game in 2005, Yakuza (Ryu ga Gotoku in Japan) spawned a lengthy and beloved video game series that follows the many conflicts and schemes of yakuza families in the game’s fictional neighborhood of Kamurocho, Tokyo. (The series was renamed to Like a Dragon, the English translation of Ryu ga Gotoku, in 2022.)
The games are notably action packed, melodramatic, cinematic, and super goofy all at once. (If you skip the side quests, you’re missing out on an key part of the games’ sense of humor.) It took years for the franchise to start receiving the renown it’s finally achieved outside of Japan, and its reputation only grows thanks to a scarily consistent output of localized re-releases, spinoffs, and new games – including the most recent of the bunch, the Majima-led spin-off Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
Which Yakuza Game Should You Play First?
With such a sprawling saga available to play, where should a curious newcomer jump in? We’d recommend starting chronologically with Yakuza 0 or jumping ahead to the clean slate of a new generation with Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Yakuza/Like a Dragon Games in Chronological Order:
Beware: Mild spoilers for the plots, characters, and some major events of each game follow.
1. Yakuza 0 (2014)
The sixth game released is actually the first chronological Yakuza game. In Yakuza 0, we play as a two protagonists during the economic boom in the late 1980s. The first: a young Kazuma Kiryu, member of the Dojima family, who is being framed for a murder that took place at the Empty Lot, an undeveloped piece of land that will be a crucial asset for whoever owns it.
The second is former Shimano family member Goro Majima, who is working in a cabaret as a punishment for being part of an assassination years ago. He’s tasked by his ex-patriarch, Futoshi Shimano, to kill a blind woman named Makoto for unknown reasons. (It’s later revealed that she’s the legitimate owner of the Empty Lot.)
By the end of the game, Kiryu gets back to the Dojima family after defeating all the lieutenants, Majima leaves Makoto to live her life, and the Empty Lot is destroyed; the Millennium Tower, a key location in the series, is built on the land.
2. Yakuza (2005) / Yakuza Kiwami (2016)
The first Yakuza game stars Kazuma Kiryu after he goes to prison for taking the blame for a murder he didn’t commit in 1995. The victim was Sohei Dojima, Kiryu’s boss, who was murdered by Akira Nishikiyama, Kiryu’s best friend. The reason behind this crime was that Sohei tried to rape Yumi Sawamura, a friend of both Kiryu and Nishikiyama.
When Kiryu is released from jail after a 10-year sentence, he’s expelled from the Tojo Clan, someone has stolen ¥10 billion from the clan’s account, and Yumi is nowhere to be found. In the middle of this, Kiryu meets Haruka, the daughter of a woman named Mizuki. Haruka has a pendant that seems to be a key element related to the lost money. Also, Nishikiyama shoots Kiryu’s former captain and adoptive father, becoming an antagonistic force.
During the climax, Kiryu finds Yumi and the lost money, and fights Nishikiyama. Kiryu is asked to be the Fourth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, which he accepts. Moments later, however, he names Yukio Terada, a former Omi Alliance yakuza, as the new chairman, and he quits the yakuza to raise Haruka as his adopted daughter.
3. Yakuza 2 (2006) / Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2017)
Yakuza 2 starts with Terada, the Fifth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, asking Kiryu to help him prevent a war between his clan and the Omi Alliance, their eternal rivals. After being shot in an ambush, Terada seems to be dead and Kiryu looks for Daigo Dojima, son of Sohei Dojima, to appoint him as the new chairman of the clan.
While helping Daigo, Kiryu meets Ryuji Goda, the son of the Omi chairman, and they become enemies because Ryuji refuses a truce with the Tojo Clan. Another character, detective Kaoru Sayama, comes into play and tries to help Kiryu while learning about her parents, who disappeared when she was young.
4. Yakuza 3 (2009)
The first game in the series released on PlayStation 3, Yakuza 3 starts with Kiryu far away from the yakuza lifestyle. Instead, in 2007, he’s taking care of the Morning Glory Orphanage in Okinawa. He’s assisted by Haruka, and he looks after many new kids living there.
Unfortunately, peace doesn’t last for long. Our protagonist has to face multiple troubles with different characters, involving new yakuza families, multiple assassinations, shootings, betrayals, an arms smuggling group, and even the CIA.
5. Yakuza 4 (2010)
One year after the events of the previous game, Yakuza 4 raises the stakes in a tale of families, betrayals, and crime from the eyes of four protagonists.
Apart from Kiryu, three other new faces join the streets of Kamurocho. The first one, Shun Akiyama, is a loan shark who runs his own firm, Sky Finance, and finds himself in the middle of a conflict between the Tojo Clan and the Ueno Seiwa Clan. He’s also asked for a ¥100 million loan from a mysterious woman named Lily.
Taiga Saejima, Goro Majima’s blood brother, went to prison after performing a hit against the Ueno Seiwa Clan in 1985. Twenty years later, after successfully escaping, he looks for Majima, who abandoned him when they had to perform the hit.
Detective Masayoshi Tanimura, another new protagonist, is investigating one of the recent murders in the Tojo Clan. While doing so, he meets Lily, who is actually Saejima’s sister, and she’s being attacked by the Shibata family. Tanimura later finds out that the patriarch of that family was related to the hit Saejima participated all those years ago.
Ultimately, Kiryu meets his new partners and finds out what happened to all the characters involved in the ongoing conflicts.
6. Yakuza 5 (2012)
If Yakuza 4’s story got complicated with multiple protagonists’ points of view, Yakuza 5 went even further. This time, you play as five protagonists in different scenarios in 2012, making this one of the biggest and most ambitious games in the series.
First you follow Kiryu, who left Kamurocho and moved to Fukuoka without Haruka, leaving his orphanage behind. As usual, he won’t enjoy calm for long before he learns that Daigo is missing, and the peace between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance is about to break.
Saejima is in prison once again, but he’s looking to escape with his cellmate Shigeki Baba when he hears that Majima is dead. (After they escape, they learn Majima had actually faked his death.) In the meantime, Haruka is already a teenager and she’s following her dream of becoming a J-pop idol. Things get complicated when the president of her talent agency, Mirei Park, is found dead in what seems like a staged suicide. Returning protagonist Akiyama appears to help Haruka learn who was really behind Park’s death.
The last piece of the puzzle is the brand-new character Tatsuo Shinada, a former professional baseball player who was banned after being framed for fixing an important match. A mysterious man, who’s actually Daigo, will meet Shinada and ask him to find out the truth of what happened.
7. Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (2016)
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life is presented as the final beat in Kazuma Kiryu’s spotlight in the Yakuza series. Our protagonist spends three years in prison, but this time it’s for his past crimes he actually did. At the end of the previous game, Haruka revealed in a concert broadcast that Kiryu was her father and that he was an ex-yakuza member.
After getting out of prison in 2016, Kiryu returns to Kamurocho, but only for a little while. He learns that Haruka is in a coma after a car accident, and she has a child named Haruto. Haruka was in Onomichi, Hiroshima for a long time before the accident, so Kiryu goes there to investigate what happened and who Haruto’s father is.
While finding clues, important characters like Daigo, Saejima, and Majima are imprisoned, and rival groups, the Chinese Saio Triad and the Korean Jingweon Mafia, are looking to make their moves in Kamurocho.
8. Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020)
A major turning point for the series, Yakuza: Like a Dragon begins the transition away from the Yakuza name. It also introduces a new turn-based combat system and a brand-new main character: Ichiban Kasuga, another Tojo Clan member who, like Kiryu, starts his journey by agreeing to take the hit on a criminal charge for his yakuza family and go to prison for a murder he did not commit. On his release 18 years later, Kasuga quickly learns that major changes have happened while he was away, chiefly that the Omi Alliance defeated the Tojo Clan.
Kasuga goes to confront Masumi Arakawa, his former patriarch and father-like figure who seemingly sold out the Tojo Clan, about what happened and is greeted by his former compatriats with hostility. Arakawa shoots Kasuga and dumps his body near a homeless encampment in Yohokama’s Isezaki Ijincho. (New city unlocked!)
Ichiban wakes up and finds himself in the care of Yu Nanba, a former nurse who treated his gunshot wound. This is the starting point for Kasuga, who will meet multiple new faces for the Yakuza series to round out his fighting party, including members from area criminal groups the Yokohama Liumang, the Geomijul Mafia, and the Seiryu Clan. Together, they dig around Yokohama, Sotenbori in Osaka, and Kamurocho to uncover the bigger picture behind Arakawa’s play.
9. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (2024)
The biggest Like a Dragon game to-date teams up the old and new guard – Kiryu and Kasuga – in a true two-protagonist saga that takes the crew from Japan to Hawaii and back. Jumping ahead to 2024 after the events of Yakuza: Like a Dragon (if you were curious, the pandemic also exists in the Like a Dragon universe), Kasuga and friends are trying to live above-board lives in Ijincho until a popular VTuber posts a viral video that upends their normalcy. Soon after, Kasuga learns that his mother, who he thought was dead, is alive and hops on a plane to Honolulu to find her.
After immediately getting into some trouble after landing (classic), Kasuga runs into Kiryu, who is also in Hawaii to find Kasuga’s mother on behalf of the Daidoji faction that agreed to give him sanctuary and keep him in hiding (play Like a Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name for the full backstory there). Kiryu also reveals that he’s been diagnosed with cancer from exposure to nuclear waste (which is connected to the Big Bad of the game). That’s just the very tip of the setup to the massive story that embarks on new Hawaiian adventures, sentimentally reflects on Kiryu’s past, and builds a dramatic arc that involves multiple international mob groups, a religious cult, live streamers, a national conglomerate, and world governments, just to name a few players in this soap opera.
How to Play the Yakuza/Like a Dragon Games by Release Date
Yakuza (2005) / Yakuza Kiwami (2016)
Yakuza 2 (2006) / Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2017)
Yakuza 3 (2009)
Yakuza 4 (2010)
Yakuza 5 (2012)
Yakuza 0 (2015)
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (2016)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020)
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (2024)
How Many Yakuza/Like a Dragon Games Are There?
Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku studio have released nine main Yakuza/Like a Dragon games, two remakes – Yakuza Kiwami (2016) and Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2017), with a third promised down the road – and 11 spin-offs since the series’ debut in 2005. They were originally PlayStation exclusives, but later ported to Xbox and PC, with every new game since Yakuza: Like a Dragon releasing simultaneously for every system with the exception of Nintendo Switch. However, as announced in the Nintendo Direct from August 2024, Yakuza Kiwami was the first of the Like a Dragon games to get a Switch port in October 2024.
In addition to the mainline games, Like a Dragon has tons of wildly different spinoffs. Kurohyō: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinsho (2010) and its sequel Kurohyō 2: Ryu ga Gotoku Ashura Hen (2012) are two games exclusive to the PlayStation Portable featuring Tatsuya Ukyo, a completely new character. Judgment (2018) and Lost Judgment (2021) star another new face, lawyer-turned-detective Takayuki Yagami, who’s investigating strange murders in Kamurocho, and has a peripheral crossover with Kiryu and the others in that he brushes up against Tojo Clan subsidiary families.
Then there’s the zombie-infested spinoff Yakuza: Dead Souls (2011), which features the classic cast of characters in a dystopian setting. Yakuza Online (2018) is a free-to-play TCG available on mobile and PC which soft-launched Ichiban Kasuga, the protagonist of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The popular Japanese series Fist of the North Star received the Yakuza treatment with Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (2018), which shares Kiryu’s games’ structure and gameplay elements.
Two spinoff games are set in older Japanese eras and feature historic figures as their main protagonists: Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (2008) and Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! (2014). The latter has been released in the west as Like a Dragon: Ishin! in 2023.
In 2023, RGG released Like a Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name, which takes place at the same time as Yakuza: Like a Dragon and explains what happened to Kiryu following the dramatic ending of Yakuza 6: The Song of Life. The most recent spin-off is Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii starring fan-favorite Goro Majima as an amnesiatic protagonist in and around Honolulu six months after the events of Infinite Wealth.
What’s Next for Yakuza/Like a Dragon?
The Like a Dragon story is far from over. Though Infinite Wealth, which quickly became the fastest-selling game in the franchise, closed the loop on its own story, it still ended on what felt like a big cliffhanger that leaves the door wide open for the next installment. Just TBD when that might happen: At the 2024 Game Awards in December, RGG revealed it was reviving Virtua Fighter but dropped nothing about what we can expect from the next Like a Dragon mainline or spin-off game.
Leanne Butkovic is an Editorial Project Manager at IGN who wishes they could befriend Seonhee.
When you want to escape to virtual worlds, having a VR headset that connects to a great gaming PC can unlock even more possibilities. Some of the top VR games work on standalone headsets, but those devices are few and far between. Most games look and play better if your VR headset is hooked up to a capable PC.
TL;DR – The Best VR Headsets for PC:
The best VR headsets for PC offer sharp displays, comfortable designs, accurate tracking, and a seamless connection to a gaming PC or gaming laptop. Admittedly, finding a headset with all these capabilities doesn’t come cheap. However, the Meta 3S, an alternative to the Meta Quest 3, is a great cheap VR headset for PC for those on a tighter budget. But if you have a little more wiggle room, the Valve Index is the simplest option for Steam integration and even PS VR2 supports PC VR with minimal caveats.
Unfortunately, you often don’t get to try out these headsets for fit and functionality before purchasing. So, our experts have done the hands-on testing and research for you, ensuring you get the best VR headset for PC that suits your needs. Whether you’re after versatility or something ready to push graphics to the extreme, one of our five picks will fit your PC VR needs.
1. Valve Index
Best VR Headset for PC
Our review of the Valve Index might be a few years old, but we still stand by our opinion that it is one of the most uncompromising PC VR headsets on the market. The 120Hz refresh rate and 1440×1600 resolution mean apps and games look crisp as you move around and turn your head – super handy when you’re dodging headcrabs in Half-Life Alyx or spotting sneaky xenomorphs in Alien: Rogue Incursion. The Index is also flush with premium padding and comfort dials that you can manipulate to create a snug fit. Even though it weighs 1.79lb, you rarely feel uncomfortable thanks to the well-constructed frame and ergonomic considerations.
Convenient and comfortable flip-down speakers flank your ears, and an easy-to-use passthrough system lets you quickly dip in and out of VR at will. The Index’s ties to Steam also make it a formidable choice for serious VR gamers who want access to an enormous library of games.
Unlike other options on our list, the Valve Index uses external ‘lighthouse’ towers to map the room for hyper-accurate tracking and roomscale VR. Naturally, this summons extra playspace considerations, but the results are worth it. Valve’s ‘Knuckles’ controller solution also deserves praise, offering peerless hands-free immersion finger tracking. The only downside is the price point, but in this case, you certainly get what you pay for – and the platform’s system seller (Half-Life: Alyx) comes bundled in.
2. Meta Quest 3S
Best Budget VR Headset for PC
VR gaming on PC doesn’t always need to be prohibitively expensive, and the Meta Quest 3S is proof of this. The Meta Quest 3S takes the Meta Quest 3 – which we reviewed and loved – and drops a few features along with the price while keeping everything else intact. Of course, the headset is primarily used as a standalone device that works seamlessly with games and entertainment found on Meta, making it seem like an odd pick for PC VR. But access to a Steam VR library or other PC VR titles is as simple as purchasing a link cable or using streaming apps like Steam Link or Air Link with a solid home Wi-Fi connection.
Furthering the case for using the Meta Quest 3S as a PC VR headset is its lighter, slimmer design, weighing a nimble 1.13lbs. It’s also easy to manipulate the headset’s fit using a fabric Y-strap. However, in IGN’s Meta Quest 3S testing, our reviewer found the strap would come a little loose with too much movement. Still, it’s comfortable enough on the head for longer periods.
The lenses are the biggest downgrade when comparing the Quest 3 to the Quest 3S. Rather than pancake lenses, the Quest 3S has 1832×1920, 20ppd Fresnel lenses, sacrificing clarity and causing distortion. At least full-color passthrough, well-balanced controllers, and top-notch head tracking are major upgrades over the Quest 2 (and a whole slew of other headsets). Given the Quest 3S is equipped with the same GPU, CPU, and RAM as the Quest 3, its performance is also similar, if not better for a seamless and snappy VR experience on a PC or standalone.
3. HTC Vive Pro 2
Best VR Visuals
The HTC Vive Pro 2 keeps everything looking sharp and detailed with minimal screen door effect thanks to its 2448×2448 per-eye resolution. That’s paired with a butter-smooth 90 to 120Hz refresh rate ready to make the most of vibrant vistas and realism in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Its fast-switch LCD panels even support a 120-degree field of view for deeper immersion in all the action. However, these optics are demanding, so a beefy gaming PC is required to keep up.
The HTC Vive Pro may offer an impressive 5K resolution, but its design isn’t as revolutionary. Don’t get us wrong: This VR headset is comfortable enough, keeping weight well-balanced and offering supportive cushioning, an excellent adjustable head strap, and the ability to tweak the distance between lenses; it’s just a little bit clunky and a pain to set up. The headset requires two base stations and several cords just to get it powered on and working with your PC. Guess that’s the price you pay for unmatched fidelity.
Though the main focus of a VR headset may be visual, the HTC Vive Pro also excels in audio performance, so investing in a gaming headset isn’t necessary. Instead, headphones are built-in, producing booming hi-res audio to place you at the center of the action.
Although we haven’t reviewed the HTC Vive Pro 2 ourselves, we did go hands-on with the original HTC Vive Pro and were overall impresed by the image quality and comfort it provided.
4. HTC Vive XR Elite
Best VR Headset for Work and Play
Adaptability is a massive bonus when picking a PC VR headset, and the HTC Vive XR Elite is a smart choice if you’re looking for an HMD that suits both professional and casual settings and offers virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality experiences. If you want to get some work done at a virtual desk and experience the intensity of PC VR gaming, the XR Elite is worth considering.
The main caveat with the XR Elite is that you’ll have to use a link cable or the Vive Streaming app to access the PC VR library. The tradeoff here is the device’s portability and viability for working environments versus the raw power offered by true PC VR headsets like the Valve Index.
The HTC Vive XR Elite’s wireless design and unobtrusive speakers make it a great traveling companion, a solution for business trips and play sessions on the road. Although it’s not best in class, the 1920×1920 resolution per eye and 110-degree field of view provide bright and clear visuals. Like its HTC Vive Pro sibling, the XR Elite also offers multiple lens and band adjustments for a secure fit.
5. PlayStation VR2
Best VR for Console and PC
That’s right: The PlayStation VR2 works on PC. The VR headset, once exclusively for PlayStation 5, now can connect to another device with a PC adapter for $59.99. The setup is fairly simple: You just need to connect the adapter to the single USB-C cord that comes on the PS VR2. A DisplayPort 1.4 cable is also required and, like most headsets, you’ll need a gaming PC that meets the minimum requirements to run. Luckily, most budget gaming PCs fit the bill. From there, with a Steam account, you can play Steam’s impressive library of VR games.
There is a catch, as not all of the PS VR2 features will work when playing on PC. You will no longer get HDR support on the 2000×2040 per-eye OLED panels, but action should still look crisp in 4K with no screen door effect and feel immersive with the 120Hz refresh rate and 110-degree FOV. Other features like eye-tracking, adaptive triggers, headset feedback, and controller haptics won’t be available. Though these extras would be nice, we don’t think they’re deal breakers. You can still enjoy a comfortable fit, finger-touch detection, rumble, 3D audio, and see-through view when PC gaming.
Beyond a few caveats, our hands-on testing of PS VR2 shows that it’s a great option for PC VR. If you’ve got a PS5 and are on the fence about buying the VR headset, we think this new functionality makes a great case for the purchase. It’s expensive, costing over $600 with the adapter, but it’s still a steal compared to many of our other PC VR headset picks.
How to Choose the Best VR Headsets for PC
We’ve chosen these PC VR Headsets based on our expertise and experience with VR, as well as IGN reviews and consumer feedback. When buying a VR headset, there are more than just digital specifications to consider, with physical comfort being an essential facet of the experience. For example, comfort dials, airflow, and build quality impact how the headset will feel when used. However, it’s also necessary to consider the technology under the hood, with the efficacy of a headset’s parts correlating with performance in the games you wish to play.
Then there are quality-of-life features to consider, like the efficacy and style of a headset’s tracking solution or passthrough and refresh rate, which governs the fluidity you experience inside a given game.
PC VR FAQ
Do I need a powerful PC to use VR?
Like PC games, VR headsets and VR games have minimum and recommended system requirements that you’ll need to meet to get the associated applications working smoothly. If you’re jumping into PC VR to play a specific set of games, it’s worth investigating the system requirements before making any big purchases to ensure you’ll be able to make the most of your proposed headset. Generally speaking, you will need high-end hardware in your gaming rig, such as potent graphics cards and processors, to play the most demanding VR games. If building a gaming rig for PC VR is out of your budget, it’s worth considering some of the standalone headsets on the market, which work wirelessly without needing an external computer.
What VR headsets don’t require a PC?
VR headsets for PC are mighty capable, but if you’d like to play away from home or even in a different room from your computer, you’ll need to find another option. The Meta Quest 3S and the entire Quest lineup are great hybrid options that excel as standalone VR headsets. The Pico 4 works similarly to the Meta Quest and is great for those who don’t want a tether. We’d be remiss not to mention the Apple Vision Pro; it’s wildly powerful solo, and it seamlessly integrates into the Apple ecosystem, proving an innovative way to work on the best MacBooks.
PlayStation VR2 doesn’t require a PC. However, you’ll need the PS5 to enjoy the truly spectacular VR experience. Some ultra-cheap VR headsets also use the screen of your smartphone for a fun, more immersive experience that’s especially well-suited for children.
How do you ensure the best VR headset for PC experience?
Beyond having a powerful gaming PC and a capable, comfortable VR headset, consider these other factors too. A well-lit space ensures you have the most accurate tracking. You’ll also want the freedom to move around the area you’re playing in, so the space should be free of obstacles or furniture that could trip you up or get tangled in wires. It may be helpful to place a rug or other objects that indicate when you’re leaving the dedicated play area. Luckily, some headsets come with their own indicators.
When do VR headsets usually go on sale?
Almost all of the best VR headsets that are PC compatible will drop in prices a few different times every year. One of the overall best shopping events for VR discounts is Amazon Prime Day, which takes place in July every year. After that, Black Friday and Cyber Monday tend to have the best overall deals consistently. Both events tend to primarily offer Meta Quest deals, but sometimes other headsets are available at a discount.
Sarah Thwaites is a freelance tech writer at IGN, with bylines at GameInformer, TrustedReviews, NME and more.
Danielle Abraham is a Tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.
